


Make a spark, break the dark, find a light with me

by LostInAdmiration



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Insomnia, M/M, just tooth rotting fluff idk, only teen bc swears???, this is some sappy shit my guys, to make up for the latest clip??? maybe???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 12:52:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10831656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInAdmiration/pseuds/LostInAdmiration
Summary: Isak can't sleep, so spends his nights wandering around the street. Even works the night shift at the store around the corner, and they bond over their mutual insomnia.





	Make a spark, break the dark, find a light with me

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have an explanation for this tbh. I wanted to write something and ended up writing 8k words of (slightly cheesy?) tooth-rotting fluff.
> 
> I have to say the biggest thank you to [skamskada](https://skamskada.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for being so kind and answering all of my Norway related questions - you were very helpful and made this fic make a lot more sense than it would have without you! (Though I do apologise for any inaccuracies - I've never been to Norway, so some things may well be not quite right.)  
> I will link to the places mentioned in this fic in the end notes, as well as linking the super handy guides skamskada created for non-Norwegian writers who want to make things a little more realistic.
> 
> Thank you again to [Shannon](http://my0rdinarymadness.tumblr.com/) too for reading this through for me and generally being supportive always.
> 
> Hope you like it! ♥

Isak couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t been able to have any more than a couple of measly hours of broken sleep a night for the past year; maybe even longer than that. It had started with the nights where he didn’t have _time_ to sleep, there was always too much to do, too many problems to solve. So, even when his eyes were drooping and his limbs felt like they were made of stone, he had to fight off the drowsiness so that he could keep a hold on the fraying strings that were only barely keeping his life together. After that, once he moved out of his parent's home, he simply couldn’t sleep because there were too many things buzzing around his brain. All of the thoughts and feelings and worries and overwhelming guilt he managed to suppress during the day with his school work and his friend’s stupid jokes came flooding back as soon as the night fell, and they weighed so heavy on his chest that he could barely breathe. He’d tried everything the internet had suggested, from herbal tea that tasted like hot liquid grass, to videos of waterfalls that just made him need to pee - he’d even tried meditation, _for_ _fucks_ _sake_ , but none of it worked.  


He’d gotten used to being in a permanent state of exhaustion now - he was sure that ‘tired’ had become an emotion for him, and the only one he could really feel, since he quickly stomped down any other feeling that fluttered to the surface. Since sleep was futile, and Isak was all too used to running on empty, he spent most nights walking aimlessly around the streets, usually with his headphones in and his music on the highest volume so that it vibrated into his bones and made his heart beat in time.

 

The world was a different place in the early hours of the morning, when everything was quiet and everyone was asleep. Isak always felt like it was just him and the stars and nothing much in between. The crisp, cold air burned his nose and bit at his face, but at least it made him feel awake, more alive and grounded. It wasn’t often he got to feel that way during the day, where he seemed to float mindlessly through his routine - his thoughts disjointed and syrupy slow.

 

The only issue with wandering the streets at night, Isak found, was that it was bitterly cold, and Isak always overestimated the weather. One night he found himself shivering uncontrollably as he pulled his coat sleeves over his fingers and buried his face into his scarf, and he swore under his breath when he felt the first drops of rain start to fall. Isak could see light pooling onto the path from a store just around the corner, so he hurried around to it and pushed his way through the door, sighing gratefully at the warmth that enveloped him.  
The place was completely empty, muffled music crackled it’s way through the store, and Isak had to squint against the too-bright lights that were stark in contrast to the pitch dark night outside. His feet squeaked beneath the floor, and the smell of the food that surrounded him made his stomach grumble embarrassingly loudly.

 

Isak grabbed a chocolate bar off of one of the shelves and made a beeline for the counter, craving coffee - he figured if he wasn’t going to sleep he might as well admit defeat and treat himself to caffeine and sugar. There were two people behind the counter, a boy and a girl; the girl had her elbows on the counter and her chin propped in her hands, her eyes drooping and her head nodding, but the boy was stood closer, and was watching Isak shuffle over. He looked far too awake for one in the morning; his eyes were shining and his smile was bright and Isak felt exhausted just _looking_ at him. He looked completely flawless, from his stupid infectious smile to the way his hair was styled perfectly, whereas Isak was in the shirt he wore to bed with his hair sticking up at every angle possible. He was sure he was probably scowling too, but he was too tired to even try to rearrange his face into a smile as he approached.

 

“Hi,” chirped the boy, his smile growing impossibly wider, and Isak had to look away as he mumbled a greeting back.  
  
He tried to pretend to himself that it was because he couldn’t deal with such happy people when he was so tired and miserable, but if he was being honest, it’s because the guy’s smile was making his stomach do somersaults, and Isak really didn’t want to go down _that_ road right now. Most of the reason he decided to freeze to death walking the streets on a night was to avoid that particular line of thought.

 

Isak muttered his coffee order and kept his head down until he heard the other boy walked away. Now that he was in the warm after walking around for hours, all of his sleepless nights caught up to him completely, and it was so overwhelming that his knees almost gave out. Isak planned to make the most of it - once he’d gotten his drink and warmed himself up he’d head back home to see if he could grab a few hours of sleep before he had to get back up again for school. Isak turned to look out of the store and almost groaned out loud; the rain had gotten progressively worse once he’d found shelter, and now it was absolutely pouring down. Isak sighed, there was no way he was going back out in that - he was already tired and cold, he didn’t want to be soaked through too.

 

“Here’s your coffee,” a voice came from behind Isak that made him jump and spin around, and the boy was there again, biting his lip and trying not to laugh at Isak as he wobbled on his feet and stuttered out a ‘thanks’ before hurrying over to sit down.

 

He sat on a stool at a long table that faced outwards onto the street, and Isak sullenly watched as the rain bounced relentlessly off the pavement, showing no signs of slowing down. Isak turned his coffee around in his hand, letting it warm up his fingers, and with the other hand he moved to stuff his receipt into his pocket, until something caught his eye.  
There was a doodle on the back that had been scrawled quickly and messily, with a few ink blots smudged around the corners. It was of Isak, complete with his unruly curls and perpetual frown, and he was holding an umbrella over his head whilst around him giant comical raindrops fell down, all with varying expressions of their own. Isak snorted and smiled despite himself, turning in his seat to face the boy, but he had his back to Isak, humming tunelessly as he arranged the shelf behind the counter.  Isak folded up the drawing and stuffed it into his pocket, his mouth still curled up into a tiny smile as he took a sip of his coffee, pulling out his phone to load up one of the stupid games he’d downloaded to save him from boredom on nights like this.

 

When Isak’s coffee had thawed him out and the rain settled down to a drizzle, he jumped off of his seat and stretched, wincing at his joints popping. The rain looked as though it didn’t plan to hold off for too much longer, so he took his opportunity to get home whilst he was at low risk of drowning, and he felt almost tired enough to be able to sleep again. Before he left the store, Isak turned around to the counter and threw his hand up as a farewell. Isak was sure the girl was actually asleep stood up now, her head cradled in her arms as she hunched over the counter, but the boy was watching Isak, and he waved back, calling out a goodbye. Isak couldn’t help but smile a little, and the grin he got in response was positively blinding.

 

*

 

The next night, Isak’s feet had carried him to the outside of the same store once more before his brain even had time to catch up. He blamed it on his incessant need for caffeine, and the fact it was utterly freezing outside, but he also knew it was because he possibly, _maybe_ , wanted to witness the brightest smile he’d ever seen again. He pushed open the door and was immediately greeted with the same warmth from the other night, but as well as that, he could hear someone singing very loudly, and peals of laughter pouring out between lyrics.

The boy was there again, and he was singing as he mopped the floor, shaking from side to side with dramatic sweeps of the mop, his eyes crinkled and his head bobbing along to the song on the radio. The same girl was there too, leant against the wall and hunched over, her shoulders shaking with laughter as she clutched on tightly to the clipboard in her hands. Isak couldn’t help but laugh under his breath too as the boy spun himself around before dipping down into an over exaggerated bow once the song was over, whilst the girl shook her head in exasperation, a fond smile on her face. Isak cleared his throat, and both the boy and girl jumped, turning towards the door with wide eyes. Both of them smiled in greeting, but the girl’s small smile was dim in comparison to the boy’s face splitting grin.  


Isak grabbed a banana this time, because as much as he wanted to eat his weight in chocolate to drown out the misery of not being able to sleep, he knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to fill that void with sugar.

 

“Welcome back!” the boy greeted Isak with just as much cheer as he had previously, and seriously, Isak had no idea where he got the energy from.  
“Macchiato again?”

 

“Uh, no. Green tea please,” Isak made a face even as he asked for it. Apparently it was good for cleansing the body or whatever, but Isak wasn’t sure that anything that tasted _that_ bad could be good for you.

 

The boy’s face scrunched up too, his lips pursing and a wrinkle forming between his brows.

 

“Seriously? Why would you _do_ that to yourself?”

 

Isak snorted at the other boy’s truly horrified expression; clearly he had the same opinion on herbal tea as Isak did.

 

“It’s good for you,” Isak argued indignantly, but it sounded weak even to him.  
  
  
The boy carried on frowning at Isak for a second, and Isak took that opportunity to flit his eyes down to the name tag on the boy’s burgundy shirt. The name _Even_ was engraved into the little brass tag, next to a small weathered sticker of a smiley face. Isak smiled at the sticker before looking back up to Even, who shrugged at Isak, still looking disgusted.

 

“Not sure being healthy is worth being miserable and drinking poison, but okay, I’ll go get your tea.”

 

When Even came back with Isak’s tea and the small receipt, Isak noticed the ink smudged on Even’s fingers and the edges of a doodle on the piece of paper, but he fought the urge to look at it until he got to his seat. He made a face at his tea before unfolding the paper, his face instantly breaking into a grin.

 

This time, the doodle had two Isak’s, with a line in between them. The first Isak was scowling, a V shape between his eyebrows and his mouth curled into an upside down ‘C’. He had a cup of something in one hand that was labelled _“disgusting”_ , and a banana in the other. The other Isak had the widest grin on his face, he even had a little star scribbled at the very corner of his eye for the full effect. That Isak had hold of one of the store’s take out coffee cups in one hand, and a very large donut in the other. Underneath the drawing Even had written _“Donuts make everything better - life’s too short to be healthy and miserable,”_ and Isak couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled through his chest and up his throat.

 

Isak spun around in his chair to face the counter again, to find Even was already watching him and grinning.

 

“Is this some ridiculously elaborate marketing campaign to get me to buy more food from you?” Isak said, holding the receipt in the air. Even laughed, and even from where he was sat, Isak could see the way Even’s eyes shimmered.

 

“No, but the donuts here are _really_ good. You know you’re just going to stare at that tea miserably until it goes cold,” Even replied, raising a challenging eyebrow.

 

Isak sighed, scowling at his drink, before switching his scowl to Even, who just carried on grinning.

 

With the most put upon groan, Isak pulled himself up out of his seat and made his way back to the counter, where Even was already waiting with a very pink donut on a plate. It was completely covered in rainbow sprinkles, and it looked positively nuclear.

 

“Are you trying to fatten me up for something?” asked Isak, eyes narrowed.

 

“Yep. Night staff have to sacrifice at least one person per night so we can have their energy to make it to the end of our shift,” Even answered solemnly. Isak snorted a laugh mid-bite, making the sprinkles of his donut shoot across the counter. His face immediately began to heat up, and he could feel the blush rise on his cheeks, but Even just looked delighted.

 

“I figured you needed something to cheer you up. No one comes in here at two in the morning just for fun. Can’t sleep?”

 

Isak shrugged, mouth still full. Even was definitely right - the donuts were amazing, and Isak didn’t know why he’d tried to convince himself that he had even remotely healthy eating habits.

 

“I don’t think I’ve slept for more than three hours a night since I was a baby. That’s why I got a job working nights - I figured if I can’t sleep, I might as well get paid to not sleep,” Even laughed. Isak laughed with him, licking the sickeningly pink frosting off of his fingers.

 

“How are you so... _awake_?” asked Isak, aware that his tone had become sort of whiny.

 

Isak was in a permanent state of exhaustion. He was sure the embarrassingly dark circles under his eyes were etched there forever, and he knew that he always looked ruffled and messy, with his untamed hair and creased clothes. Even looked far too perfect for someone that had the same sleeping issue Isak did.

 

“Coffee. We get it half price and I take full advantage of that. Also, I sleep after my shift. For some reason sleeping during the day is a hundred times better than sleeping at night. Maybe because I can be smug that whilst everyone else has to get up and go to work I get to spend all day in bed.”

 

Isak still didn’t think that made sense. Once during the start of his exams, he’d tried to give up sleeping all together, fuelling himself with energy drinks and coffee. He managed a full two days of hysteria and buzzing thoughts, before Jonas found him passed out in the library, and all of the work he’d done was just unintelligible drivel.

 

“Do you not have school?” questioned Isak. Even didn’t look much older than Isak, but he was terrible with guessing ages.

 

“I just graduated from Bakka a few months ago. Are you a first year?”

 

Isak scoffed and scowled at Even, who held his hands up and grinned sheepishly. As much as Isak had grown this past year - he was _finally_ taller than Jonas - he knew he was still cursed with a baby face, and it was made worse by how he’d let his hair grow long recently.

 

“Second year,” he grumbled, and Even laughed, mumbling something about how a year wasn’t that much of a difference. Isak still liked to think he was very different from his first year self - it seemed like it was eons ago to him.

 

“I think it’s an unfair advantage that you know my name-” Even tapped his nametag.  
“But I don’t know yours. Don’t you think it should be law that everyone wears a nametag? Then you’d never have to deal with the horror of forgetting the name of someone who you’ve been talking to for hours ever again.”

 

Isak laughed and shook his head.

 

“Then nobody would actually look each other in the eyes, they’d be too busy staring at their chests.”

 

Even waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Isak laughed even harder.

 

“It’s Isak, by the way. No nametags needed.”

 

Even smiled as if Isak had just told him a secret, and he repeated Isak’s name under his breath before holding his hand over his heart and nodding solemnly.

 

“I promise I won’t forget it,” he replied, smiling widely.

 

Isak didn’t go back to his seat, instead favouring leaning against the counter and chatting to Even. The girl - Mari, Isak learned - joined in too, and Isak laughed with his chin propped in his hand and his elbow on the counter as he watched Even and Mari work.

 

Eventually, when his eyes finally started to droop and Isak had psyched himself up enough to make the cold walk home, he said his goodbyes as he walked over to his seat and began to collect his things, but Even stopped him.

 

“You forgot your receipt for the donut!” he called, a tiny smile playing at his lips.

 

Isak grinned right back and hurried over to grab the piece of paper, mumbling a goodbye to Even and Mari before pulling his coat back on and pushing his way out of the door. He unfurled the paper as soon as he’d started walking, and laughed so hard that he tripped over his own feet. This drawing was a little cartoon Isak, stood on top of a upturned tea cup with one hand on his hip and the other holding a donut in the air that was surrounded by stars and squiggles. This cartoon Isak had a big grin on his face and a cape billowing out from his neck, with “ _who_ _needs_ _sleep_ _when_ _you_ _have_ _donuts?”_ scrawled at the top of the paper.  
Isak smiled up at the sky as he put the new drawing with the other in his pocket, watching the clouds of his breath puff out between his lips and disappear into the sky. He still felt utterly exhausted, and dreaded the next day at school where his friends would no doubt have to prod him awake multiple times. But the bone-deep misery that usually coupled with his lack of sleep had for now been replaced with stupid drawings and neon donuts and shining eyes, and Isak smiled the whole way home.

 

*

 

It very quickly became routine for Isak that when he couldn’t sleep, he would make his way to the store around the corner, favouring spending his time with Even instead of in the dark, where his thoughts wandered too far and tied his stomach up in knots.

Isak spent a few hours almost every night sat at the table by the window with his school books and far too many pens scattered in front of him, as he and Even talked animatedly about everything and anything they could think of.

 

“Good morning!” Even called cheerily as Isak pushed his way through the door. Isak’s coffee order had already been placed on the counter in anticipation, and Isak couldn’t help but grin at that.

 

“Is it still counted as morning if you haven’t slept yet?” asked Isak. There was actually someone else in the store today - a man was sat in the corner, hunched over a book with his glasses sliding off of his nose.

 

“Good point,” Even hummed thoughtfully.  
“But it would sound weird to say ‘good night’.”

 

“Let’s just stick with hi.”

 

“Okay. Hi,” Even’s smiled grew even wider as Isak made his way over to the counter, and Isak felt that usual wave over almost overwhelming fondness he got whenever he saw the older boy smile.

 

“Hi,” Isak replied a little breathlessly, handing over his money to Even and huffing a laugh when Even handed him a plate. The plate was piled with waffles, along with an absurd amount of whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and Isak looked back to Even with his eyebrows raised.

 

“These are for half price. They were almost past their sell date, so I figured you could finish them,” explained Even, sticking his finger in the cream before bringing it to his mouth.

 

“So you’re pushing all of your stale food onto me? Wow, I feel so special,” Isak deadpanned, biting his lip so that he didn’t smile.

 

Even laughed and stuck his finger in the cream once more before reaching out to Isak, who managed to dodge him just in time.

 

“Only the best for you,” he replied with an impish grin.

 

Despite Isak coming to the store almost every night for the past two weeks, Even’s tradition of drawing something on every one of Isak’s receipts hadn’t died out. Isak’s room was full of them now - tiny pieces of paper covered in silly doodles stuck to his walls that always made him smile whenever he looked at them. They never discussed it, but Isak always waited whilst Even disappeared for a few moments before returning with a piece of paper for Isak and ink smudges on his finger tips, and Isak had kept every single drawing since the very first day.

 

*

  


“Don’t you think it feels like we’re on a whole different planet at this time on a night?” Isak said, tapping his pen in a rhythm on the table as he stared out of the window.

 

Even was stood by Isak, leaning against the chair beside him - he’d been hovering around Isak for the past twenty minutes with the pretence that he was wiping down the surfaces, but all he’d done was talk to Isak and spin the cloth around in his hands.

 

Even hummed, turning to look out like Isak was. Outside was completely still and dark, with only the pools of dull light coming from a few streetlamps dotted sporadically down the street. The sky was clear, so the stars could be easily seen, and other than the warmth and noise of the store they were in, everything else seemed to be on pause.

 

“The early hours of the morning are my favourite,” said Even softly, and Isak turned to look at Even instead. He was still craning his neck to look up at the sky, and he was staring at the stars with a longing expression that made Isak want to reach out and touch him, to see if he could map it with his fingers and register every inch of Even’s face.

  
“It’s so quiet and calm, right in between the end of an old day and the start of a new.”

 

Isak hummed in agreement, still watching Even in favour of the night outside. Even had quickly become a very important fixture in Isak’s life - Isak looked forward to seeing him, even though he knew it was ridiculous, because Even was just a boy that happened to work in the store Isak frequented.  
Talking to Even was easy, Isak found himself smiling and laughing so much that it made his cheeks ache and his chest feel light, and lately, with everything weighing him down so much, he didn’t get to feel that way very often. It was a weird relationship - Isak was notoriously pretty terrible at opening up to people, he had his small bunch of friends and he liked it as it was. But Even was funny, he was interesting, and he helped Isak forget things, even if just for a few hours a night. He made Isak feel at peace, and Isak really hadn’t so been calm in years - he always felt like a coiled spring, his muscles constantly tense and his jaw clenched and his head thumping in anticipation, ready for the shattering of one of the hundreds of plates he was desperately trying to spin. Even just had something about him that Isak could never put into words, or even a dumb cartoon like Even did; all Isak knew was that when Even smiled, it made Isak feel like he was glowing.

 

Although spending time with Even was one of his favourite things to do, and Even made Isak so stupidly happy just in the few hours they spent together, Even had become yet another thing to add to the list of ‘ _things Isak worries about instead of sleeping’_.

 

Isak had come to terms with the fact that he maybe didn’t like girls the way that his friends did. He didn’t enjoy hooking up with them at parties, and when his friends talked about how hot the girls were at his school, he didn’t understand what they were seeing that was so amazing. When Isak realised that his feelings for his best friend were a little more than platonic, he had been mortified. Isak desperately tried to stomp down the way his heart soared and his cheeks grew warm whenever Jonas smiled at him, and he felt an awful, overwhelming surge of guilt when he realised he was _jealous_ of the way Jonas looked at Eva - his two best friends in the world, and he couldn’t even be happy for them.

 

Isak had learnt to ignore that feeling, he told himself that it would pass, and also told himself that just because he liked Jonas, didn’t mean he liked any _other_ boys. Jonas was his best friend, the only person Isak had been able to rely on, so he figured that maybe it was normal that his feelings for Jonas were so strong.

 

But now there was Even, and what Isak had felt for Jonas seemed like barely anything now, compared to the way Even’s smile made Isak giddy, and how when they accidentally touched, it sent electric shocks up Isak’s spine. Isak couldn’t ignore it like he had with Jonas, and he almost didn’t want to.

 

Even turned to face Isak, and when he realised Isak was already watching him, his face broke out into that earth shattering grin that had fast become one of Isak’s favourite things.

 

Isak liked this time of a night so much, this gap between one day and the next, because it felt like for a while, he could stop pretending and be who he wanted to be, whilst the world was sleeping and free of judgment.  


Isak grinned right back at Even, and he wished he could put the world on pause for real, just so he could keep this moment for a little while longer.

 

*

 

A month had passed of Isak spending most of his nights in the store he’d grown to love, drinking coffee and eating a mass amount of pastries whilst Even worked. Isak’s sleeping pattern hadn’t gotten any better, in fact, it had probably gotten worse, but Isak was definitely much happier with Even in his life.

 

Isak pushed his way through the doors and hopped up onto his usual seat, and right on cue,  Even appeared next to him, holding Isak’s coffee in one hand and a very sticky cinnamon bun on a plate in the other hand.

 

Isak shot Even a weak smile in way of thanks before slumping over the table with a dramatic groan as he buried his face in his arms. He was getting less than an hours sleep on a night now, and he wasn’t sure how long he had left before his bones crumbled to dust.

 

“Bad night again?” asked Even. Isak turned his head to the side to nod, and Even frowned and made a sympathetic noise, reaching out to push Isak’s hair out of his eyes.

 

“Did those videos I told you to watch not work?”

 

“Oh my _god_ , yes. I passed out almost straight away, but then my laptop fell off my bed and woke me back up half an hour later,” Isak’s voice was hoarse and he had a headache gnawing at his temples. Even had been giving Isak alternative suggestions of how to get to sleep; he’d pretty much written Isak a list, and Isak had already checked off every single one, with only a few being slightly helpful.

 

“That’s shitty,” Even said softly, his fingers still brushing through Isak’s hair. Isak shut his eyes and sighed contentedly. Maybe he could offer to pay Even to sit by him and run his fingers through Isak’s hair - Isak was almost certain he’d be fast asleep in just a few seconds.

 

Even left Isak soon after to get some work done, but before he left he slid a piece of paper over to Isak with a smile and a pathetic attempt at a wink, as well as four extra packets of sugar that Isak gratefully poured into his drink.

 

This drawing was of cartoon Isak sleeping, curled up and wrapped in a blanket, with a small smile on his face. There was a big thought bubble coming from cartoon Isak’s head, and that thought bubble was full of donuts and pastries and coffee, with a few stars dotted in between. There was also a small cartoon Even in the thought bubble, and he was grinning wide and waving, and Isak held the paper to his chest for a few seconds before stuffing it into his pocket.

 

Before Isak was about to leave, Even hurried over with another piece of paper, but this one was different. It had a small doodle of the same grinning cartoon Even from cartoon Isak’s thought bubble, but the page was mostly filled with numbers. A phone number, Isak realised. Isak frowned up at Even, and Even rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging with a sheepish smile.

 

“I realised that we’ve never seen each other in daylight. You know, in normal hours, like normal people,” Even shrugged again, huffing a laugh.

 

“Who wants to be normal anyway?” Isak joked, wanted to ease the tension that was clear in Even’s face.

 

Even laughed properly at that, and Isak mentally congratulated himself. He didn’t know when it had become his mission to make sure Even never stayed anything other than happy for too long, but he always felt a little surge of pride whenever he was the reason that Even smiled.

 

“Right. But I was wondering if you’d want to try my last trick to getting a good night’s sleep. This one’s foolproof, I promise you’ll sleep at _least_ five hours, maybe even a whole eight.”

 

“Honestly, at this point I’d try anything. What’s your trick?” asked Isak.

 

Even’s face split into that grin that Isak knew so well, and he waggled his eyebrows, nudging Isak’s arm.

 

“An adventure,” he replied gleefully.

 

Isak snorted, eyebrows raised, and Even just carried on grinning.

 

“An adventure?” Isak echoed.

 

“Yep. Adventures guarantee sleep. I don’t work weekends, and I’m free Saturday. Are you up for it?”

 

Isak pretended like he was thinking, rubbing his chin with his hand as he hummed thoughtfully, when in reality, he was sure that he was about to combust. Even _wanted_ to see him out of work time, out of the weird sleepless bubble that they had created, and Isak was inexplicably happy.

 

“Sure, let’s go on an adventure.”

 

Even’s grin got impossibly wide, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he bounced on his toes, and Isak felt like his own face would crack if his smile grew any more, but he couldn’t help it. Even always made a ridiculous amount of joy rise up from the soles of Isak’s feet right up to the crown of his head, and he couldn’t contain it - not that he’d ever want to.

 

*

 

Isak and Even met outside of Isak’s flat, and Isak knew logically that there was no real need to feel so anxious, but he couldn’t stop the jittery feeling from scuttling up and down his spine. They’d never met outside of the store, never seen each other in any other kind of setting that wasn’t staff and customer, and Isak didn’t know if that would change anything. Isak shook it off - Even had seen Isak at his worst, sleep deprived and dishevelled, and he was always happy enough to talk to him even then. For their day together Isak had actually bothered to brush his hair and wear something smart, so if anything, things should be better.

When Even rounded the corner and spotted Isak, his face broke into his trademark grin, and any anxiety Isak had been feeling immediately melted away.

 

“Ready?” asked Even as Isak fell into step beside him and they wandered towards the tram stop together. The streets were teeming with people hurrying by and talking loudly, children laughing and screaming, and the sun was beating down on them despite the cold breeze. It was stark in contrast to the setting that Even and Isak usually met in.

 

Even looked barely any different, other than the fact he was out of his work clothes, wearing a varsity jacket and jeans, with a pair of sunglasses hooked onto his black shirt. He still had the same smile and same hairstyle, except it had started to wilt a little from the wind, and a few curls of hair had flopped down onto his forehead.

 

“Where are we going?” questioned Isak as they jumped onto the tram. It was almost completely full, so the two boys had to remain standing, and Isak didn’t quite hold on tight enough when they set off, causing him to fall forward and collide with Even’s chest, making them both collapse into a fit of laughter that echoed around the almost silent carriage.

 

“That’s a secret, it wouldn’t be an adventure if you knew,” Even replied, smiling slyly.

 

Isak rolled his eyes but didn’t ask anymore, he just watched the world zip by from the window of the tram.

  
  


When they finally reached their destination, Isak couldn’t help but frown a little.

 

“The Teknisk Museum, _seriously_?” he said incredulously, turning to Even, whose smile didn’t falter as he nodded.

 

“I’ve been here hundreds of times,” Isak first went to the museum on a school trip as a child, and he immediately fell in love with it. He used to beg his parents to go there almost every weekend - it was like a wonderland to him, and he was sure by now that he could walk around it with his eyes closed.

 

“But you’ve never been with _me,”_ replied Even, nodding self assuredly before heading off walking towards the doors.

 

Isak watched Even walk away for a few moments, before Even turned back to Isak, walking backwards, and beckoning with his finger.

 

“You have to actually _want_ to have fun Isak, it’s only an adventure if you want it to be. Stop being so skeptical.”

 

Isak rolled his eyes again but jogged after Even to catch up regardless.

 

*

 

Isak felt like he’d resorted back to being a child again, as he and Even spent their day wandering between exhibits. The museum was full of interactive games and quizzes that were mostly meant for children, but that didn’t stop Isak and Even from playing every single one of them, keeping scores of who could answer the quickest, and trying to outdo each other. Isak managed to get almost every single question right before Even did, and he was caught doing a ridiculous victory dance by a family who were waiting their turn, and were watching Isak and Even with bewildered expressions. Isak flushed whilst Even laughed hysterically, throwing his head back and wrapping his arms around his middle, and Isak had to pull him away, cursing under his breath.

 

They took their time, visiting each exhibit and looking at every single part of it. Isak would usually skim past a few as a child, dragging his parents to the parts he loved the most and ignoring the rest, but he and Even explored every inch of the vast space, discussing and debating and teaching each other. Even began spouting random facts to Isak with a smug smile on his face whenever Isak couldn’t hide how impressed he was at how much Even knew. That was, Isak _had_ been impressed, until he realised that Even had slyly been reading the little plaques of information that came with each piece, and had stood himself in front of them whilst he recited the facts to Isak. Isak decided to play along for a while, nodding along with Even’s description, and biting his lip to stop himself laughing whenever Even forgot what the plaque had said.

 

“Did you know-” Even began, gesturing to a big Grandfather clock, but Isak interrupted before he could continue.

 

“That this clock was made in 1914 by the Norwegian horologist Ragnar Johansen? And the designer was architect Henrik Bull? Yeah, I _did_ know.”

 

Even’s jaw dropped, and he stared incredulously at Isak for a few moments, until Isak couldn’t hold it in anymore, and he ended up doubling over laughing at Even.

 

“I can read the plaques too, idiot,” Isak said in between giggles, and Even looked almost bashful as he ducked his head and mumbled an indignant “fuck you” to Isak.

 

Isak read out the information from the Horology exhibition to Even as they walked around, and it was Isak’s turn to blush when Even leaned in to Isak and waggled his eyebrows, muttering “I didn’t know you knew your way around a clock so well,” under his breath, making Isak choke and splutter as Even laughed gleefully.

 

Isak and Even talked endlessly, and by the time they had made their way around everything, even visiting some exhibits twice, Isak’s voice was hoarse from overuse and his stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Isak felt like no time had passed at all, even though they’d spent almost the full day there.

 

“You were right, that _was_ a good adventure,” Isak confessed as they walked out of the doors. It had been a good day, and that light feeling Isak always got around Even was even more prominent now; he really wished he could stretch the day out for a little longer - he wasn’t ready to let Even go just yet.

 

Even turned to frown at Isak, shaking his head.

 

“Who said the adventure was over?” he said, giving Isak a nudge with his elbow.  
“Come on, we have somewhere else to be.”

 

*

 

It was another rather long and cramped tram ride for Even and Isak to get to their next destination, and this time, it was a place that Isak hadn’t been to before. He’d heard of Ekeberg Park, but he’d never thought of visiting - art wasn’t particularly his thing, and it was always far too cold to be stood outside for hours staring at lumps of rock, in his opinion. He told Even just as much, but Even just laughed, shaking his head.

 

“I used to come here to draw a lot. It’s sort of cheesy and a little bit pretentious, but I think it’s beautiful anyway.”

 

Even held out his hand to Isak, palm facing up, and he looked to him expectantly, eyes shining.

 

“Are you ready for the second part of the adventure?” he asked. Isak reached out and took Even’s hand, marvelling at the way his fingers seemed to fit perfectly in the gaps between Even’s.

 

Even gave Isak’s hand a squeeze, and Isak felt it all the way down to his toes as his mouth curled into a smile.

 

“I’m ready.”

 

*

 

Even was right, the place _was_ beautiful. Some of the sculptures were stupid, and Isak told Even so, as they stood in front of one that Isak insisted was just a ridiculous blob.

 

“You’re meant to be able to see profiles in it - faces,” Even insisted, leading Isak around the sculpture. They’d stayed hand in hand the whole time, and Isak revelled in the constant warmth of Even’s palm against his own.

 

“I can’t see shit,” Isak muttered almost petulantly, causing Even to laugh and bump into his side.

 

Dead leaves crunched beneath their feet as they wandered around the park, stopping to look at each one of the sculptures, most of which Even tried to explain the deeper meaning to as Isak insisted that they were just stupid piles of rock.

There were a few that Isak admired, a few sculptures of women that looked so real that Isak half expected them to begin moving any moment as he stared at them.

 

“I like this one,” Isak said softly. They were stood in front of a sculpture of a woman laid horizontally and suspended in the air as if she were levitating. She had what looked like a linen cloth covering her completely so that only the vague shape of her could be made out. The cloth was spilled onto the floor around the woman, covered in wrinkles and crumpled up at the edges, and Isak could make out the woman’s face and the curves of her body clearly underneath the thin material - it was hard to believe that it was made out of bronze, and wasn't as real as it looked.

 

“Yeah?” Even’s voice was just as soft.

 

Isak nodded, he wasn’t entirely sure what he found so fascinating about it, but Even had told him to not think too hard about it, to just admire it, so he did.

 

“Yeah. She just looks so _real_ ,” Isak replied eventually, tilting his head to the side.

 

Even just hummed in reply, and when Isak looked up to him, he found that Even was already watching Isak with a fond smile on his face that made Isak feel warm all over.

 

They visited the Pavilion last. It was a glass structure that overlooked the forest they were surrounded by, and the two boys got there just in time for the sun setting. The sun was already half gone beyond the horizon, but it looked pretty spectacular regardless. For as far as Isak could see, there were what seemed an infinite amount of trees all stood side by side. In between the gaps in the trees, Isak could see the bright oranges and yellows and deep reds of the sun as it melted away, stark in contrast to the dusting of darkness from the impending night creeping down. It was like a painting, a fantasy landscape of somewhere Isak didn’t recognise.

 

It felt like they were suspended in the moment, like they’d been there forever, even if it was only for a few minutes. Everything else had gone from Isak's mind, except for the view in front of him and the feel of Even’s hand in his own, and he felt so light and so free that it was almost dizzying.

  


*

  


By the time they left the park, Isak was exhausted. His bones were aching and his legs tingling after hours of walking non-stop, and he was so grateful that there were seats free on their tram ride back, or else he was sure he’d end up collapsed in a heap on the floor. He and Even spent the ride back in a comfortable silence, Isak slumped against Even’s side and Even’s head resting gently on top of Isak’s, as Isak fought to keep his eyes open.

 

It was completely dark when they finally got back to where they had started, and the cold had really set in now, making Isak hunch his shoulders and scowl at the bitter wind that stung his skin. He wondered what would happen now, would what he and Even had - whatever the fuck _that_ was - change? Or would they go back to stealing time together in the early hours of the morning once more? Even had stayed mostly quiet, but there was no tension in it, they were both just quietly enjoying each other’s presences, not needing to fill the silence with pointless conversation - after all, they’d talked so much that day that any topics they could have talked about had already been covered twice over.

 

“Thank you for this. It was a good day,” Isak said quietly as they reached the steps that led up to Isak’s flat.

 

“It really was, I told you it would be fun,” Even grinned, taking a step forward, closer to Isak. They were stood facing each other, Isak’s hands in his pockets, and Even rocking back and forth on his toes.

 

Isak nerves lit up as Even edged even closer, head tilted ever so slightly. His smile faded a little and Isak didn’t miss the way his gaze dropped down to Isak’s lips for a few seconds before flitting back up to meet his eyes.

 

“There’s one last thing, the last part of the adventure,” Even said softly, his voice almost a whisper, but he was so close now that their lips almost brushed as he spoke, and it rattled violently through Isak’s bones.

 

“Yeah?” Isak whispered back, daring himself to take half a step forward so that their foreheads were touching.

 

Even hummed and closed the distance between their lips, his hand reaching up to cup Isak’s face. Isak immediately curled his hands around Even’s waist as he kissed him back, and his whole body felt like it was on fire.

 

Both of them ended up smiling and laughing too much to kiss properly - giddy with the feeling of being so close to each other, so they settled with just wrapping their arms around one another instead, Isak’s fists bunched into Even’s jacket, and Even’s hand rubbing circles into Isak’s back.

 

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first night I saw you,” Even mumbled into Isak’s hair, and Isak squeezed Even a little tighter.

 

“Why didn’t you?” asked Isak.

 

“I didn’t know if you’d want me to,” said Even, sounding almost vulnerable as he spoke.

 

Isak thoughts about that - he was still struggling a little bit with coming to terms with liking boys instead of girls, and sometimes it made him so anxious that his stomach would tighten and his throat would clog up and he could barely breathe. But this was _Even,_ and Even had barely even been a question to Isak; he had merged into Isak’s life so effortlessly that Isak didn’t even have to think about it. Being with Even, in whatever way, seemed right no matter what.

 

“Of course I did,” replied Isak, and Even laughed softly and pressed a kiss to Isak’s cheek.

 

“Then we have a _lot_ of catching up to do to make up for it.”

 

*

 

Isak’s roommates found him an hour later, sprawled out on the sofa fast asleep, with his shoes and coat still on. He had the ghost of a tiny smile on his face, and he had a piece of paper clutched to his chest - a drawing that Even had slipped into his hand along with one last kiss and a promise of tomorrow just before they parted ways.

 

This drawing was of cartoon Isak again, with a big smile on his face. He was stood hand in hand with a grinning cartoon Even, whose eyes had been replaced with tiny hearts, and they were surrounded by a mass amount of floating donuts that were dotted all around the page. At the top of the drawing was a note:

 _“I’m so glad our mutual lack of sleep caused us to meet each other. Can’t wait for our next adventure. ♥_ _  
_ _(P.S: you’re better than a thousand donuts)”_

**Author's Note:**

> The store Even works in is a [Deli de Luca](http://delideluca.no/) (like a 7-Eleven).
> 
> The museum they visit is the [Teknisk Museum](https://www.tekniskmuseum.no/), and the park they visit is [Ekeberg Park](https://ekebergparken.com/en/kunst) (there's pictures of each sculpture on their site, in case you were interested).
> 
> Skamskada's very handy [guides to Norway](https://skamskada.tumblr.com/tagged/tiny-primer-for-skam-writers).
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](http://call-this-a-mask.tumblr.com/), if you'd like 
> 
> (Title is from Lose It by Oh Wonder)
> 
> Thanks for reading. As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated. ♥


End file.
